Hypnogogia

Psychic research Frederick Meyers coined the term hypnogogia by combining the Greek words “hypnos,” for sleep, and “agōgos", for leading. As the etymology implies, hypnogogia is the transitional state leading into sleep. Distinct from normal REM dreaming in numerous ways, many of us recognize hypnogogia as the moments in which we’re struggling to stay awake—riding in a car, sitting in a boring meeting, or watching a film late at night—and suddenly we find ourselves in a surreal thought pattern or dream image, only to snap back awake suddenly. When drifting off at night, we all pass through hypnogogia, but with practice, one can learn to linger in the state for longer periods, dancing with the strange dreams found there.

Astral Body Orientation

Astral bodies are a common theme across magical philosophies. The idea that we possess a form made of energy, spirit, or soul distinct from our physical body—one that can perhaps move independently or even survive after death—is tremendously appealing to the human psyche. It also fits into the uncertainties offered by our own subjective experience, seeing as we all enjoy nightly adventures “out of body” as our physical bodies lie still while our dreaming minds explore impossible worlds.

The term “out-of-body experience” was popularized by Robert Monroe, a radio broadcasting executive who, in the 1950s, began having bizarre experiences while listening to “learn while you sleep” tapes. After consulting with medical professionals and finding no satisfactory mainstream explanation for what was happening to him, he began chronicling his “journeys out of body,” resulting in the publication of several best-selling books and the non-profit Monroe Institute, which continues to hold retreats and instruct eager participants in the techniques of tuning into their non-physical energies.

Recorded by 21st century wizard Devin Person—himself a trained hypnotist in the Ericksonian style—this introductory orientation is heavily indebted to the pioneering work of Bob Monroe and the Monroe Institute. It is presented here as a grateful homage.

The World on the Turtle’s Back

This archetypal image repeats across diverse mythologies, including the Iroquois and Lenape of North America, the Hindus of India, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. British philosopher John Locke made mention of the Hindu belief in his 1689 tract, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, where he describes the Indian, who said the world was on an elephant, which was on a tortoise, "but being again pressed to know what gave support to the broad-backed tortoise, replied—something, he knew not what." The image is thus connected to the phrase "turtles all the way down," used to describe the absurdity of infinite regression, and the fact that none of us really have any legs to stand on, at least ontologically speaking.

Celestial Kingdom

The Celestial Kingdom is the highest of the three kingdoms of glory presented in theology and cosmology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It corresponds with “bodies celestial” and the “glory of the sun.” It’s the VIP room of Mormon heavens, reserved for individuals who will eventually become "exalted," a state that can’t even be comprehended in our living world. Rather, Joseph Smith said that the learning and understanding of salvation and exaltation will occur beyond the grave.

The Sprawl

An urban cyberpunk setting in a trilogy of novels by William Gibson, the Sprawl is a near-future world dominated by corporations and ubiquitous technology. Merging gritty criminal elements with far-out technological innovations, Gibson’s vision of the future is one in which the unintended consequences of technology filter out of research labs and onto the street where it finds new purposes. This includes direct mind-machine links ("jacking in"), emerging machine intelligence, and a global information space, which Gibson called "cyberspace".

Hypnopompia

Coined in conjunction with hypnogogia by Frederick Meyers, hypnopompia swaps in the alternate Greek word, “pompē,” meaning leading away. Hypnopompia is the state through which we exit sleep. Fans of the snooze button will recognize this as the pleasant haze where dreams abound while awareness of the physical world continues to filter in, creating a strange experience of straddling both planes of being at once.

The Desert of the Real

Although it originated in Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation, the phrase “desert of the real” was popularized by the character Morpheus, named after the Greek god of dreams, in the 1999 film The Matrix. When the film’s protagonist, Neo, exits the simulation known as the Matrix and is thrust into the post-apocalyptic wasteland Morpheus asserts is the real world. But the phrase is uttered by Morpheus as he shows Neo the “real world” through yet another simulation, bringing us into a situation similar to the one described by the early Taoist Zhuangzi:

Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things.